The Fragile
by imissbuffy
Summary: Sequel to "Changes". Derek and Chloe are on the run again. But now, they have the Pack after them too.
1. The Mark Has Been Made

**Sorry it took me so long to put this up, I had no internet access all weekend long. Well, you all asked for it so here it is! I named it after a Nine Inch Nails Song/Album, I totally recommend you check it out. The chapters will be named after other songs from that same album unless otherwise noted. I don't own the characters, Kelley Armstrong does, and she's much better with them than I am. Enjoy! Please review! Sorry if it's a little rough, I just really wanted to get this out.**

"Ok, so we'll see you tomorrow. Bye," with that, Elena hung up the phone and turned to the dark-haired man sitting across from her. He lifted his head from the book he was reading.

"Well?" he inquired.

"They expect us around six, but something seems off with the man I talked to. I just hope that the kid is still there when we get there. Andrew said he might spook."

"If that happens, we'll find him. We have Jaime. Jaime has Eve and Eve is in contact with the little necro's ghost Liz. It won't be too hard to catch up with them if they bolt. I just hope we get there before he Changes. There's nothing scarier than going through your first Change alone."

"Do you think it's true what Eve said about the little necro? That she accidentally raises zombies in her sleep? I thought Jaime had this complicated ritual that she had to follow."

"Well, yes. Jaime says that Eve hasn't been wrong about things like this before, so she doesn't see why she'd start being wrong now." Just then, the phone rang. Elena walked over and picked it up. "Hi, Jaime! Yes, he's right here. We were just talking about you. No, nothing bad, of course. Just wondering if Eve could be wrong about the Saunders girl." There was a pause, during which Elena walked over to the window. Looking out she could see her mate, Clay playing with their twins. "Oh, yes. Kate's still going through the terrible twos. Logan's just being, Logan. Clay is convinced that he's stalking the kids in playgroup still." After about two minutes of chatting about the kids, Elena finally said, "Yeah, Jeremy's getting antsy to talk to you now, so I should hand you over. I'll see you tomorrow." Handing the phone over, she left the room to give them some privacy.

After a brief conversation, Jeremy hung up. He walked over to the same window Elena had been looking out of. Watched his family play in the backyard, mulling over his conversation with his mate. Jaime. A very powerful necromancer. She was on a plane now, making her way from Chicago, so she could be here when they brought the boy and girl here.

Just think, a young werewolf was involved with a necromancer. From the accounts of the mutt, Liam, the young necro was his mate. He was only sixteen, hadn't even been through his first Change yet, and already had a mate. A woman to spend the rest of his life with. Jeremy hadn't even found Jaime until he was in his late fourties. And even then, it had taken him six years to start a relationship with her. But once a werewolf finds a mate, that's it. No one else for him ever. It seemed cruel really, the way the Pack Law worked before Jeremy took over as Alpha. All werewolves were victims of the mating instinct, and like wolves, they mated for life. But Pack Law stated that all sons born of human mothers (like there ever was any other kind before Elena) had to be taken from the mother and raised by the father. All ties to the mother had to be severed. If worst came to worst, the mother was killed to protect the secret of the Pack. His own mother was killed for that reason, although from what his grandfather had said, it didn't have to be like that. He couldn't imagine anything more painful than having to steal your child from the woman that you love. Having to go against the instinct to protect your mate at all costs by killing her.

Hopefully, this time tomorrow both Derek and Chloe would be here, safe, and learning to cope with their powers. If anyone could help Derek, it would be Jeremy. And in Jeremy's humble opinions, there would be no better teacher for the little necro than Jaime.

He still couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, that there was more to the story than he was being told and if they waited until tomorrow, those kids would be gone. He walked over to the patio door, and stepped outside.

He was immediately assaulted by the twins. After disengaging his legs from their tiny grasps, he walked over to where Clay and Elena were sitting.

"We'll leave tonight. Call Nick and ask him if he can stay with the twins until Jaime gets here. I want to get the jump on them as soon as possible." He didn't even wait for a response, just knew his orders would be followed. Being Alpha did have it's high points. He just hoped he could reach the kids before someone else did.


	2. We're In This Together Now

He kissed me.

My first kiss, and it's on a bus, surrounded by people, while being on the run from the Pack. It was a nice kiss, short, sweet and too the point.

My cheeks heated up, but to be fair, so did his.

He kissed me. _Finally_.

I was grinning at him like an idiot. For his part, he was just staring at me, almost, but not quite smiling.

I couldn't think of anything to say to him, which was unusual. I always knew what so say to him, even if it was to tell him to leave me alone. Not that I wanted him to do that right now. No, that was the last thing I wanted. I wanted him to kiss me again.

My face heated up even more, which I though was impossible. I wondered if he could tell in the dark, but then remembered one of the drawbacks to being in love with a werewolf is that he _could_ see in the dark.

Although, that led to exciting possibilities for later on…

I was getting ahead of myself, and he was starting to get that panicky look on his face that meant he was sure he had made a mistake.

So I pulled his face down to mine, and kissed him. This wasn't like his five-second-peck-on-the-lips. I really kissed him. There was tongue involved, and by the time we broke apart, we were both gasping for breath and -I'm very pleased to say- I wasn't the only one with a flushed face.

He leaned his forehead against mine, our eyes locked together.

"Chloe, I love you," he whispered. My already pounding heart skipped a beat. Once again, I was struck speechless, until I noticed that he was still waiting for me to answer him. The smile started to slide from his face as I sat there; unable to utter a single syllable, because I didn't want the first time I told him how I felt to be stuttered.

Taking a deep breath first, I smiled and said, "I love you too, Derek."

He sighed, presumably from relief. Then slowly, the almost-smile became a real one, one of those rare grins that always had the same heart-melting, stomach-twisting effect on me. He leaded in for another kiss-

-and Liz's voice made me jump, almost hitting Derek's head with mine.

"Aww! That is so sweet! You two make such a cute couple!" Liz popped her head over the back of the empty seat in front of us. I glared at her, and Derek looked at me, confusion etched on his face. I mouthed "Liz" to him the turned back to her, but making sure Derek's body blocked me from most of the people, so if anyone heard me talking they'd assume I was just talking to Derek. See? I was learning.

"So… Is he a good kisser?" she asked me, grinning.

My face heated up, and I swear, if it got any redder, we could use it as a lamp. Derek must have guessed what had asked me, because when I glanced at him, he has suddenly found something fascinating to look at out the window across the aisle.

"Um, he's sitting right there." I muttered, looking at the floor.  
"I can see that, you know. You are no fun, sometimes. Well, anyways, I came here to make sure you guys got on all right, and to tell you that I'll be out of contact for a few hours. But I should be back before you guys get to wherever you're going. Where are you going?"

I told her about Vermont, and our hopes to get a small cabin. Her brows shot up and she started making suggestive remarks about what I could do in the cabin with Derek. Blushing furiously, I told her goodbye and closed my eyes until her laughter faded away. My face was in my hands and I couldn't stop laughing. Some of those suggestions were very inventive, and I just couldn't imagine _Derek_ of all people trying them. Actually, I _was_ imagining it. That was the problem.

"Chloe, is everything ok? What did she say?" he whispered so no one could hear him but me. His breath was warm against my cheeks and I instinctively leaned my body in to his.

"Oh, just checking on us, making sure we got on ok. She wanted to know where we were staying,"

"What did she ask you about me?" His face betrayed nothing. Why would it? He couldn't hear what she was saying.

Although he could probably have guessed from my reaction.

"Nothing. She was just being… Liz. How soon before we have to switch busses?" I asked him, changing the subject.

"About two hours, then we switch and ride for another three. Not too bad, all things considered. Why don't you use me as a pillow again, and go to sleep? We can talk later." He lifted his arm, and I tucked my body in under it, resting my head on his shoulder.

"It's not uncomfortable, is it?"

He laughed off my concerns, and told me to sleep. Before I knew it, my eyes started to droop. He kissed me on the forehead once, and soon after I fell asleep, breathing in the scent of him.


	3. Complication

**Thanks for all the reviews! Sorry if the first two chapters weren't that great, I've been having a really hard time getting down to write mainly because one of my kids seems to think that if Mommy is typing on the computer, that's the best time to bug her. Kids. They are the anti-muses. I also realized that I kind of forgot to do a plot for the last story, so hopefully, I can correct that with this one. **

They were waiting for us when we got off the bus.

There were two of them, a dark-haired man and a woman. They were just leaning against the side of the gas station that the bus terminal was located at. At first, Derek and I hadn't taken any notice of it. But as soon as we stepped off the bus, Derek's nostrils flared and his gaze shot to them. The man peeled away from the building, and walked over to us. Before he could get very far, Derek had grabbed my hand and we took off towards the parking lot for a strip mall, hoping to lose them among the cars.

Another man stepped in our path, and I could see the female coming up from the other side of us, essentially trapping us.

"Derek Souza? Chloe Saunders? I'm Jeremy Danvers," the dark-haired man said. Derek inhaled sharply. His eyes widened with shock and recognition, then he swore.

Jeremy was a good twenty feet away from us, but I swear the corners of his mouth uplifted, like he heard Derek and was trying not to smile.

"Who is he?" I hissed.

"He's the Alpha of the Pack," a voice from beside us drawled in a thick Cajun accent. "And you're trespassing on Pack territory. You know what I do to trespassers?" The blond man who had originally cut us off was directing his question at Derek.

"We've been told some things," Derek slowly answered. His voice sounded… off. I glanced up at his face. He was scared. He was more afraid of these three werewolves than he had been of Ramon and Liam combined.

Or maybe he was just scared for me. I remembered what Ramon had said back at the park

"_That's against the rules, pup. You don't go telling your girlfriends what you are…_"

And the people who made and enforced those rules were standing right in front of us. Did Derek know what the penalty was? Or did those rules not apply to me, because I was a necromancer? I didn't care. I was getting pissed off. I was sick and tired of having to run away and not being able to trust people.

There was a shimmering next to Jeremy and a second later, Liz popped into view. She looked around with interest, then turned to me. I glanced at her for a second then turned my attention back to Derek. His eyes were going glassy, and sweat was streaming down his face. He looked feverish, and pale. We had to get out of that parking lot, and fast.

"What do you want?" I asked bluntly, hoping to speed things along.

"We want to help you. That's it." Jeremy answered calmly.

"Why do you want to help us? I'm a mutt on your territory," Derek rasped, his voice sounding an octave lower than usual. His breath was coming in short spurts now. I was starting to panic.

An elderly man came up to us, eyeing the adults in our group with suspicion.

"Is everything ok, here? These folks aren't giving you any trouble, are they?" he asked me. I looked to Derek, not sure how to answer.

"We're fine. Thanks for asking. We were just… leaving," he managed to choke out. The old man didn't look convinced. Derek's obvious fever wasn't helping.

"You look like you could use a doctor, son. My son-in-law is a doctor, and he would be more than happy to see you. No charge," he added as an afterthought.

"Thank you for the offer sir, but we have everything under control," I hastily replied, grabbing Derek's arm so I could lead him out of the parking lot. We had passed some woods right before getting to the bus station, so I figured I would take him there. It wasn't perfect, but it was better than the parking lot. If we could ditch the Pack. Something told me that wasn't going to happen. I looked at Liz to see if she had any suggestions, but she was avoiding my gaze.

"We're fine. Like I said, we're leaving." Derek's voice sounded strained, like the effort to talk was too much for him. He started walking and glanced back to Jeremy. "So, where's the car?" If Jeremy was surprised by Derek's sudden change of heart, he didn't let on, just gestured to a mammoth of an SUV parked three cars down from us. It had three rows of seats, so Derek and I took the middle one. As Clay put our bags in the trunk, I waved to the old man to let him know we were fine. Satisfied, he walked away. Liz was next to the car, and I waved her in. If Jeremy and Elena saw me, they didn't say anything about it. I figured I could explain later, if they asked..

"Can you get us out of this?" I asked her. I knew they could hear me, so I didn't even try to lower my voice.

"I could, but I'm not going to. You need to go with them."

" What? Why-" I started, but she cut me off.

"Chloe! Chill! Listen, they really do just want to help you. Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I do, Liz. But trusting you is one thing. I don't know these people from Adam," I replied angrily.

"Chloe, I'll explain everything later, but right now, just go with them. They will keep you safe. I have it on good authority that they are the good guys."

_At least until they bring out the chainsaws,_ a little voice in my head reminded me. We weren't safe yet. Just because they seemed like very reasonable people, didn't mean that we could put down our guard. But we really didn't have much of a choice right now.

As I was about to say more, the others got in the car. Jeremy got in front with the woman and the other man climbed in back.

As we were leaving the parking lot, Jeremy made introductions. The blond man was Clay, Jeremy's adopted son, and the blond woman was Elena, Clay's mate. They all lived on an estate called Stonehaven, which was by a small town called Bear Valley in New York. We were only about half an hour away from it, he said. He explained that they were supposed to meet Andrew at the safe house tomorrow at six, but obviously plans had changed.

"So, how did you find us anyways?" I asked, even though I was pretty sure of the answer.

Jeremy gave another almost-smile.

"I know a necromancer," was all he would reply. I shot Liz a glare, and she had the grace to look chagrined, but still didn't move from her spot on the floor between my seat and the door.

Jeremy explained to us that even before he was Alpha, he was the one who had helped all the young werewolves through their first Change. He continued to reassure Derek in a calm, and very soothing voice that he had nothing to fear, that he wasn't alone, and most importantly, it would be over soon. Elena shot Derek occasional glances of sympathy, but all Clay had to add was a few grumbles about vomit on the upholstery.

."Where are you taking us?" Derek rasped out. Trees were shooting past us, and it felt like we were being driven down a long, green tunnel.

"Home. To my home,. Stonehaven." Jeremy replied casually. "We'll be safe there."

We drove for about forty minutes. I will always look back on those forty minutes as the longest of my life. Even with the windows open, I could feel the heat pouring out from Derek's body. His shirt was already drenched with sweat. Just when I was about to asked the dreaded, "Are we there yet?" Jeremy pulled into what looked like a private road. After driving for what felt like forever, a large house pulled into view. It was too dark by now to see any features of it, but it was huge.

As soon as the car stopped, Derek opened his door and scrambled out. He stumbled over to a tree, and was leaning against it when Jeremy and I went over to him. Clay just grabbed our bags and went in the house with Elena. The door opened and I could hear cries of "Daddy!" and "Mommy!" Jeremy must have heard them too, because he turned his head to the house and this time he gave a real smile. He turned to me, and explained that Clay and Elena had twins, a boy and a girl. He sounded as proud as any grandfather I had ever heard.

A silhouette appeared in the doorway, outlining a woman. Whoever it was waved to Jeremy, who then asked us to wait for on minute then he ran up to the porch, and greeted her with a kiss. They talked quietly for a minute; too quiet for me to hear. It didn't matter anyway, because I was too worried about Derek to even try to eavesdrop.

"Are you ok? Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked him worriedly.

"I've got to get into the woods. Are you… are you coming with me?" he asked, his voice raw. In answer, I grabbed his hand and started pulling him to the forest beside the house. Jeremy said something to the woman, and quickly caught up to us.

"Chloe, your friend Liz is at the house, waiting for you. The necromancer I was telling you about, Jaime, is waiting to talk to you too. Why don't you go back to the house while I help Derek-"

"Chloe stays with me," Derek growled, cutting him off.

"It's best if she stays at the house," Jeremy answered quietly.

"No…"

"I've always gone with him before," I said. "Whenever he tries to… Change, I go with him. I stay with him. Always."

Jeremy looked at us in surprise.

"Really?" He asked us, sounding genuinely shocked, his face gave nothing away. He paused, presumably considering his next words. "That's fine, I guess. But she would probably be safer and more comfortable at the house. I promise, we don't bite." Another pause. "Anymore."

"As comforting as that sounds, we'll pass." Derek replied. "You can go back if you want. Although, to be honest, I don't mind you coaching me through it."

I glanced at Derek, brows raised in shock. He slowed down, and gestured for Jeremy to lead the way. When Jeremy was twenty feet ahead of us, Derek leaned down and whispered in my ear so low I could barely hear him, "We'll be fine. My dad told me things about Jeremy. He's alright. If he wanted us dead, he wouldn't be the one doing it. That's not how it works in the Pack. Besides, I need to know if… if I'm doing it right." We had stopped walking, and under the light of the gibbous moon, I could see the worry in his eyes, the sweat soaking through his clothes, and worst of all, the strain he was under trying to hide all the pain he was feeling from me.

"Do you want me to go to the house," I asked weakly, hating how small my voice sounded.

"No!" He exclaimed sharply. Then he repeated in a gentler voice, "No. Stay with me." He leaned over and kissed me quickly, then grabbed my hand again and we jogged over to Jeremy together. We were in some woods now, and the trees completely obscured the house. Jeremy suggested a spot a little further in, so we followed him to a small clearing that had convenient bushes and a well-placed boulder for Derek to hide behind. Jeremy took position out of our sight, and Derek went behind the rock to change out of his clothes.

A couple minutes later, he was in his boxers, and on all fours. We had this down to a routine now. I sat beside him, and rubbed his shoulder blades while he vomited, convulsed, panted, whimpered, and gave strangled cries for half an hour. I thought he was so close a few times; I swear I heard his bones rearranging themselves. But just like the other times, Derek stopped before going all the way through his Change. When it was over, and he was back to his regular shape again, he pulled me down next to him so I could stay warm. I rested my head on his shoulder, and before I knew it we were both asleep after a long and very exhausting day.

**Um, for some reason, I had such a hard time keeping Derek in character. Sorry if people are upset I didn't really go into his partial Changing process, but those parts are really hard to write. Plus, I had trouble reading them, I guess "seeing" big, tough, strong Derek puking all over bushes and cowering in fear kind of bums me out, you know? But I swear, I will make it up to everyone in the next chapter, and I will get into why Derek just went along with them the way he did. So it's not all OCC. I'm still getting the hang of this writing thing, this being my second fanfic and all. Ever. **


	4. Even Deeper

_I was running through the woods, chasing a rabbit. I was in wolf form, but I didn't think anything of it. It was… __**right**__. The rabbit was bounding through the trees and bushes, and the scent of it filled my nostrils, making my stomach growl. I had been chasing it for a while now. Wearing it out. Toying with it. The anticipation was the best part of the chase, as any hunter knows. I could practically taste it already, and the smell of its fear was intoxicating in its richness. I was done toying with it now, and prepared for that final lunge. I leaped. I caught the rabbit in my jaws and gave it a good shake, breaking its neck. I chomped down, warm blood filling my mouth. Then something shook me, and called my name. _

"Derek! Wake up! You're freezing!" Chloe's face filled my view, eyes wide with concern. I groggily sat up, and shook off the remnants of my dream. I could still smell the rabbit, which wasn't surprising. We were still in the clearing in the forest. I bolted upright, recalling the events of the night before.

I hadn't Changed. Again. It seemed now more than ever, it was just not going to happen. I thought for sure it would, that the night before I would fully Change, but obviously I hadn't.

"Are you ok?" Chloe asked me, pulling me from my thoughts.

"Yeah." No. I'm not ok. I'm a genetically modified werewolf who can't Change. I fell asleep in the woods with my girlfriend, who happens to have a zombie werewolf stalker, and oh, yeah, the leader of the Pack was our personal escort.

"Are you sure? Because you seem really out of it…" She wasn't buying it. Go figure. She never bought any of the bullshit I tried to sell her, which was a very refreshing change from everyone else I had ever come into contact with.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just… tired, I guess. What about you? Are you ok?" Like she would tell me if she wasn't. I swear, that girl was even more stubborn than I was. And that's saying something.

"I'm fine." She replied, standing up and shaking off her clothes. "I'm feeling a little grungy, but it's nothing a shower won't fix." She smiled at me, then glanced around the clearing. She apparently found what she was looking for because a second later she took off around a large boulder. She reappeared with my clothes. She handed them to me, and turned her back so I could get dressed.

I donned my clothes quickly, because my stomach was reminding me that it hadn't forgotten my dream, and I had better put something in it soon OR ELSE. I glanced around, trying to get my bearings, when I heard footsteps approaching. I sniffed the air, but the person was downwind.

"Derek? Chloe? It's me, Jeremy. I heard you two talking, and just wanted to let you know that we have breakfast at the house."

Chloe started walking towards him, still holding my hand. I briefly hesitated, not wanting to follow this man blindly like I had last night. But my stomach disagreed, and decided for me. My legs started moving on their own accord, towards Jeremy's voice. Before too long, we were out of the woods, and Jeremy was already walking back to the house, apparently deciding that he wasn't going to stand around all day trying to lure us from the woods.

I trusted him. I didn't really understand why, because I am a very suspicious person by nature. My father had always taught me to trust my instincts, and all my instincts were telling me that I was in no danger from him, and that he was… _important. _To me. To my complete surprise, I _wanted_ to be here.

Chloe stopped short and gasped. She was looking at the house, which I hadn't been in any condition last night to notice. It was large, and made of gray stone. I don't know much about architecture, but I didn't think I would be wrong if I called it a mansion. A small mansion.

A back door was propped open, so we went through that into a large, spacious sunroom. There was a table set up with a breakfast spread. I could hear a child somewhere in the house talking, but other than that it was silent.

Jeremy appeared from the interior doorway.

"Help yourself to any food. We'll leave you alone to eat. After breakfast, I'll show you to your rooms, and you can wash up. We can talk later, after you have gotten a chance to look around the place and get your bearings."

I snorted, recalling my first day at Lyle House, where I had been given pretty much the same speech by Mrs. Talbot.

Jeremy grabbed a plate and started piling on food. Then he turned to me, and pinned me with his full gaze.

"Derek, you and Chloe are welcome to stay as long as you like. You are free to come and go as you please. You aren't our prisoners. You're our guests, and I want you to feel comfortable here. All I ask is that you don't disclose this location to anyone else right now. This is the home to my Pack, our safe haven. We have worked very hard making sure that it _stays_ safe. Are we understood?"

Chloe and I nodded.

My stomach growled, letting me know that my trust issues weren't important right now. Food was. Jeremy took a bite of everything on his plate, probably to show me that it was safe. So, I took some of everything, and there was a lot to choose from. Bacon, eggs, cinnamon rolls, and fruit, not to mention two full pitchers of juice. Chloe follow suit, then we took our plates and drinks outside to the back porch and sat at a picnic table.

We didn't talk, just concentrated on our. When finished my first plate, I went back in and got more.

"You want anything while I'm up?" I called out to her.

"No, thanks." She replied. She appeared in the doorway with her empty plate and glass. She placed them in the sink and rinsed them off, then told me she was going to find her room so she could shower. A few minutes after she left, I finished up my breakfast, and cleaned up my plate. I followed the hallway that led out of the kitchen, and passed what looked like a living room. Jeremy was sitting on a couch there, crumb-filled plates and half-empty glasses scattered across the coffee table in front of him. He wasn't alone. Sitting next to him was the red-haired woman that I vaguely recalled from last night. Jeremy looked up, and gestured me in the room.

"Hello, Derek. This is Jaime. She's the necromancer I was telling you about." Jaime and I exchanged greetings, but before we could get past the "Nice to meet you," part, Jeremy stood up and gestured for me to follow him. He told Jaime he was showing me my room.

While we were walking, I tried to think of something to say to break the silence. Luckily, he did it for me. He told me how the shower worked, and offered to drive Chloe and me into town later that day, after we got settled. I thanked him, and gave a noncommittal response.

My bedroom pretty much looked like every other guest room I've been in. Double bed, matching dresser, a closet, night table, and lamp. The blanket and curtains were white, and there were white towels folded neatly on the dresser. My bag was sitting on the end of the bed, and there was an adjoining bathroom with a shower in it.

I thanked Jeremy, and he left, shutting the door. I opened my bag, making sure that all my stuff was still in there, and brought it with me into the bathroom.

After I was showered and dressed, I left the room to find Chloe. I listened in the hallway, and heard her laugh tinkling from downstairs.

I found her in the living room, talking to Jaime, and someone else I couldn't see. She was smiling, so I was guessing that it was Liz. Whoever it was must have told her I was there, because she turned around.

My heart stopped. I wondered when her smiles would stop having that effect on me, and then hoped they never would. She stood up to greet me, but I waved her back down and sat next to her on the couch. She immediately leaned into me, and grabbed my hand. I looked down to hide my own smile, and when I looked up, Jaime was grinning at me from ear to ear.

Before I could wonder why she was looking at me like some proud, matchmaking-aunt, Chloe turned to me and explained that Jaime was going to give her some real necro lessons. We talked about that for a few minutes, and then Jeremy came in the room with Clay. They sat down and Jeremy asked if I had any questions I would like to know.

"Only about a thousand," I said, and everyone laughed. Jaime asked Chloe if she would like to take a walk with her, and Chloe agreed, leaving me alone with Jeremy and Clay. I didn't feel uncomfortable, however. In a way, this was what I had always wanted; a chance to get some answers about my condition from adult werewolves. My father had done the best that he could, but he wasn't a werewolf. He was a sorcerer, and any information he had for me was always second-hand at best. But Jeremy and Clay could. And they were willing to help me too.

For the next few minutes, I explained about the Edison Group, and what they had done to us. They exchanged glances when I mentioned the genetic modifications, and other than Clay asking, "What do you mean by uncontrollable powers?" they didn't say a word throughout the whole thing. When I was finished, Clay looked at me and snorted.

"What?" I asked him. It figured. They didn't believe me.

"Well, it seems to me that you have everything under control. I don't know about Chloe or Tori, but someone taught you and Simon right, because you control yourself a hell of a lot better than a lot of werewolves your age do."

"I threw a guy, and now he's never going to walk again," I muttered.

"You talking about that kid near Albany?" Clay asked. I nodded.

I wasn't surprised they knew about that.

"We read papers looking for incidents that may indicate a mutt-" Jeremy began, than looked at me with a note of apology before continuing, "has been drawing too much attention to himself."

Before I could respond, Clay asked me why I did it. I gave them the story. They exchanged glances again. Then Clay turned his full gaze on me, and I cringed back into my seat.

"So, you're telling me, that this guy pulled a knife on your brother, and yet you feel bad for _him_?" I couldn't speak, so I just nodded again. Clay's eyes blazed into mine.

"Of all the-" He began angrily. He took a deep breath, like he was restraining himself, "Derek, let me ask you something." Clay demanded.

"Ok," I responded, hesitantly.

"Did you think your brother's life was in danger?"

"Yeah, but-" I started protesting, but he held up his hand.

"Do you _still_ think your brother was in danger?"

"Yes," I replied without hesitation.

"You did the right thing. There wasn't time to find a better way, and besides, you taught that guy a lesson he will never forget. Anyone who pulls a knife on a kid in a schoolyard deserves what he gets, Derek. Don't forget that. And if you still feel bad, just remember this: When I was your age, I did a lot worse to protect my Pack. And then I took pictures. You do what you have to do to keep your family safe. Just try not to do it in public next time. But, really, kid. You're doing much better than most mutts."

"Clay is right. I'm not saying that you should go around paralyzing everyone who threatens people you care about, but you really do have more control than you think you do. There wasn't much else you could do in a situation like that, and you shouldn't beat yourself up about it anymore. These things will happen, Derek. The sooner you understand that, the better. It is in our nature to protect what's ours, usually at any cost." As he said that, his gaze drifted out the window, where I could see Chloe standing with Jaime.

Jaime's back was to us, but I could see almost all of Chloe's face. Sometime after arriving at Andrew's the black dye had washed out. Instead of dying it red, like I had suggested, she had opted to dye it an even lighter color than it had been when I had met her. It sparkled in the sunlight, and she was laughing at something Jaime was saying to her. I felt my chest tighten, and I knew that Jeremy was right. If Chloe hadn't stopped me with that girl from the alley, I probably would have killed her. And maybe part of me would have felt bad about it, but the more I considered it, the more I realized I had no other choice. If there was a threat to Chloe, that threat would be eliminated. Period. I would make an honest effort to not go around hurting people, but if it happened, I couldn't really lose any sleep over it. Not anymore. It was time to grow up, and accept that being a werewolf made things different. She was mine, and no one was going to take her away from me.

"-more discreet in the future. We can't risk exposure." Jeremy was saying to me. Reluctantly, I turned away from the window. We continued our discussion, and made plans to have my first lessons with Jeremy later on that night. Clay offered to teach me how to fight other werewolves, and I agreed. We then moved the topic on to lighter things, such as Clay and Elena's children. Apparently, Logan was solemn and quiet, while Kate was more outgoing. At moment, there was an ear-piercing shriek of laughter followed by running footsteps. A door slammed somewhere, and then a cry of, "KATE!" filled the house. Clay smiled.

"Consider yourself warned," he said, still grinning.

After a few minutes of talking about the kids, Jeremy asked me about my father. I spent the rest of the conversation explaining everything: how my dad had "adopted" me from the Edison Group when I was younger, how we were always on the run, how he disappeared. We still had no clue where to find him, but I wasn't giving up. They told me they knew an investigative team for supernaturals, and would ask them to look in on it. I knew how much PI's cost, so my cheeks flushed, and I automatically protested, not wanting to take any more advantage of their generosity. Clay laughed that off, and explained that Elena's best friend ran it, so it wouldn't cost them anything. They would want to do it. They _lived_ for helping supernaturals.

"Besides, they would probably be put on the case anyways. We are reporting the Edison Group to the council, and I'm sure that the whole matter will be cleared up in no time."

"What council?" I started asking, but the front door opened, and Jaime and Chloe walked in.

"You guys are still in here? How about you take a break, and I'll find you something to eat?" Jeremy agreed, but Clay declined.

Jeremy and Jaime went ahead, but Chloe grabbed my arm, and held me back. She was grinning up at me, and this time, it wasn't just my chest that responded.

She pulled me down for a kiss, and I was more than happy to oblige her. I still couldn't believe that a girl like her would let someone like me touch her, let alone kiss her. But I wasn't arguing. I wasn't going to fight my feeling for her anymore. I couldn't. Every single cell in my body was screaming to me constantly that she was it. The One. And even though I knew that she probably would get sick of me eventually, sooner rather than later, I didn't care. As long as she wanted me, I was there.

"Hi," she whispered against my lips, smiling. I returned the smile, and kissed her again, only this time, I was more aggressive, but not forceful. She pressed her body closer to mine, and I was sure she had to be feeling my erection, but I didn't care. I wanted her to know how she made me feel. She ran one of her hands down from my neck to my chest, running her fingers over it. The hand I had on her waist started creeping slowly up, and when our skin made contact, she gasped. I stopped kissing her lips, and hungrily kissed down to her throat. My hand was getting closer to its goal, when I suddenly realized I was on top of her. Somehow, we had ended up on the couch, and I had no memory of getting there.

There was a giggle from the doorway. I looked up, over Chloe's head to see two blond children peering at me from the doorway. I jumped up so quickly that I ended up sprawled on the floor, to the delight of the giggler, a little girl. I had to presume this was the Kate I had been warned about. Her brother just stared at me with solemn eyes. I pulled Chloe up, mumbled some type of greeting to the kids, and then sidled past them, down to the kitchen.

Before I could walk through the door however, a small shape streaked passed me. As I went in the kitchen, I could see Kate sitting in Jeremy's lap, whispering something in his ear. His eyes met mine, and the corners of his mouth twitched up; expression I was coming to recognize as his smile.

Swallowing a chuckle, Jaime told us to take our snacks outside, so we could enjoy the beautiful day. We made plans to go into town for lunch in a couple hours, and after a hasty goodbye, we walked outside.


	5. No, You Don't

**I really want to thank everyone who has left me a review. You guys are so great, and it really helps me get past my writers block knowing that people don't think I suck. Or at least, you don't say I do, so that's good enough for me. If I were I real author, I would have a dedication at the beginning of my story, which I didn't. So, this whole fanfic is for all the Derek and Chloe fans out there who think Kelley is taking too long in getting Chloe and Derek together. **

Before we could say anything to each other, Derek's pocket started ringing. He pulled out one of the pre-paid phones we had purchased last week.

"Hello?" He smiled, and mouthed, "Simon!" to me. He held up a finger to me, so I walked away, giving him privacy.

After a couple of minutes, he jogged over to me, and pocketed his phone.

Derek recounted his conversation with Simon for me. Simon and Tori left Andrew's that morning. They were at a bus terminal in Syracuse right now, only about forty-five minutes away. I felt guilty enough for forgetting about them all day, so I insisted we talk to Jeremy right away. We went inside, and found him still sitting at the kitchen table with Jaime. The kids were nowhere too be seen.

We explained the situation. They told us to call Simon back and tell him someone would be there to pick them up in a few minutes. The only thing they were upset about was the fact that it had taken us all morning to tell them.

"I know I said not to disclose this location, but I didn't mean you had to leave your brother out on the streets," Jeremy chided. "I'll call Nick and have him swing by to get them." At our looks, Jeremy went on, "Nick is a Pack brother. He's Clay's best friend, and a very trustworthy person. We can postpone our trip into town for dinner if you want. That way you can help them get settled in."

He then left to make his call and find Elena. Derek went outside to return Simon's call, and I was left in the kitchen with Jaime.

"So, Chloe, how long have you and Derek been together?" She asked me with a grin. "As a fellow necromancer with a werewolf boyfriend, I'll tell you, you could do a lot worse." I blushed, but that warm feeling I always go when I though of Derek surfaced, and before I knew it, the words were tumbling out of my mouth.

"We just…well, yesterday. I mean, it's not like it's official or anything, but, he says he loves me, so I guess I can say we've been together since yesterday," I blurted out in a rush.

"That's great, kiddo. But there's something that Jeremy thinks I should talk to you about."

"What?" I asked, the warm feeling evaporating. I looked out the window. Derek was still talking on the phone with Simon, but he was far away, so I doubted he could hear us.

"Don't worry, it's nothing bad. I mean, you might not be thrilled when you hear it, but it won't be the end of the world or anything like that." At my blank stare, she continued. "Your relationship with Derek is… surprising. From what Jeremy says, Derek is really protective of you, right?" I nodded hesitantly, not really sure where this was going. "It's just that Derek is a little young to have found a mate already."

My face heated up.

"M-mate? W-we h-haven't," I slowed down, calming myself. "I'm only fifteen years old! He's my first boyfriend. I don't think we're going to be doing any… mating anytime soon. Why do people keep saying I'm his mate?"

"Who else has called you that?" She asked calmly.

"Liam did…" I said sullenly. I was starting to get angry. I barely even knew this woman, and she was trying to have "the talk" with me. She must have known my mother was dead, and assumed that I was starving for the guidance of a surrogate-mother-figure or something. I was pretty sure that even if my mother had been alive, we would not have been talking about having sex with my werewolf boyfriend.

"I really don't feel comfortable talking about sex with you," I said, hoping she would drop it.

She blushed, and her eyes widened with genuine shock.

"Oh, God, Chloe, I wasn't saying-" She broke off, and took a deep breath. "I wasn't talking about sex. I'm just trying to explain to you what the whole mate thing means. You know, to you."

I was opening my mouth to protest, but shut it quickly. I had to admit, I was curious. I told her to go on, so she did.

Apparently, Pack werewolves are raised by their fathers. The gene only carries through the male line, so the sons are taken from their mothers soon after they were born. She didn't understand why exactly they kept their secret from the mothers, but they did. Until Clay bit Elena. Their children were obviously being raised by both parents. Apparently, the twins were special. Not only was Kate a werewolf too, (they could tell by smell when she was born) but they were the first full-blooded werewolves in recorded history. Until Kate, the Elena was the only female werewolf in North America.

When a young werewolf is around sixteen, his body starts preparing him for his Changes, like Derek. The partial Changes Derek had been going through were normal, apparently. Good to know.

One of the many changes a new werewolf has to face is overcoming his instincts. One of the most powerful instincts was of course, the mating instinct. It wasn't like with a normal teenage guy at all. They didn't want to have sex with every single attractive woman they came into contact with. They pretty much were looking for The One he would spend the rest of his life with. If she wasn't The One, it was a waste of time. Most of the werewolves who couldn't control that part of their… condition avoided intimacy with women, except to reproduce. After they had their sons, they stopped all contact with the woman.

Jaime didn't understand how Pack wolves fought against that instinct by taking their sons from the mothers. From what she had been told, once a werewolf chooses a mate, it's almost like they are linked. He will always know how to find her. He will always know if she is safe, or is she is in danger. He was very protective of her.

She theorized that a werewolf could have sex with a woman who was not indeed his mate, but that wasn't how they did things anymore. All of those rule had only applied when the Pack thought werewolves were the only type of supernatural. Upon finding out, they had changed the rules. Now, if a werewolf's mate was a supernatural, there was no reason not to tell her. They could raise any babies together, boy or girl.

I started to panic. I couldn't hear what Jaime was saying through the rush of blood in my ears and the pounding of my heart. I mumbled some excuse, and hurried from the kitchen, out the back door.

I was barely fifteen. I mean, I wasn't even a sophomore yet. Derek, was my first boyfriend, for God's sake, and I had only known him for little over a month. In the movies, when the girl gets the guy at our age, you always assume they are together forever. But how often in real life does that happen? Not very. We don't get to see the part where they go to different colleges and break up five months later.

But he would never break up with me, not unless he though he was putting me in danger. My heart stopped pounding, and my blood ran cold.

As freaked out as I was about the whole mate thing, I was positively terrified of the thought of him _not being in my life anymore_. I tried to imagine him with someone else.

The bile rose in my throat, and I walked over to some bushes and threw up. Well, that answered that question.

"Chloe! What's wrong?" Derek ran over to me. I hadn't even noticed him across the yard, that's how upset I had been. I looked away from him, and brushed off my knees.

"I'm fine," I said, not meeting his eyes. "I'm going to go inside for a minute, then when I come out, we can go for a walk. I need to clear my head." I finally lifted my eyes to his.

"Are you sure?" His eyes were full of concern, and I felt a twinge of guilt. If I was his mate, it wasn't his fault. I was his first girlfriend, too. And really, who said I was his mate? Did he? No. Maybe Jaime was just jumping the gun. I bet if I had asked him, he'd say the same thing, and scoff at me for even considering the idea. Really, the idea of Derek pining away for _anybody_ -let alone me- was ludicrous. Like he would ever do that. Really. We hadn't even been out on a date yet, and here I was, freaking out over something that might not even be true. Ridiculous.

I ran inside and up to my bathroom, brushed my teeth, and was back outside within five minutes.

"Better?" He asked me, still oviously concerned.

I reassured him I was, then hesitantly told him what Jaime had talked to me about.

"What, that whole, wolves-mate-for-life thing?" He scoffed. He turned me so I was facing him. "My dad said that whole thing is crap, and I'm inclined to believe him. I think it's just an excuse that werewolves have come up with to explain what science calls hormones. It's not like I never noticed girls before you." His tone was light, but his face was saying a different story all together. His eyes kept darting around me, like he didn't trust himself to make eye contact.

He was lying.

I _was_ the only girl he had ever noticed. Ever cared about. Even if he hadn't just completely given himself away, I already had known the truth from what Simon had said in the past.

But I didn't let on that I disbelieved him. I just smiled at him, and asked him about his talk with Jeremy and Clay. We walked around the grounds for a few minutes before Jeremy called us back. He said that Nick was on his way with Simon and Tori.

Fifteen minutes later, we greeted them at the front door.


	6. The Day the World Went Away

**Well, another update. I'm having a hard time making anything actually happen in this story, so bear with me. There should be **_**something**_** action-y soon…ish. Thanks again for all the wonderful reviews! I already have some of the next chapter(s?) done, so you shouldn't have to wait too long for an update. I hope you enjoy this one, even if it is Tori's POV. Please review!!!! **

**Author's Disclaimer: I still don't own the Otherworld Series, or the Darkest Powers Series, or anything cool at all. Except for my Buffy box set. Oh, and my Discworld books and video games. I don't own any of the movies though, because what they did to Rincewind was crap. **

Simon was starting to grow on me. Again. I knew he was a sorcerer, but for some reason, that had never bothered me. But me being a witch bothered him. He never liked me. At all. Even when I practically threw myself at him.

I thought about the weeks before Chloe had arrived at Lyle House, and a wave of embarrassment overcame me. I hardly ever blushed. Thank God. I couldn't stand it if I had blushed as much as Chloe did. I don't know how she stood it, everyone knowing when she was embarrassed all the time. Having her emotions displayed across her face, for all the world to see? No, thank you.

During the last day, after Derek and Chloe had left, Simon's thinly veiled contempt of me had withered to what I would call mild annoyance. For some reason, he didn't hate me anymore. Fine by me.

Chloe wanted me to get along with him, to stop antagonizing everybody. I think she had seen past the "Tori's just a bitch" persona that I was working very hard on presenting to the world. She saw it was all an act, that I wasn't really that hateful.

I didn't want to be, anyways. I wanted to be positive, like Chloe. Well, not _exactly_ like Chloe, because sometimes, I thought that no one could be a perky as her, not without some serious drugs. But, she was. And her life had sucked as much as mine. Her mom was _dead_. My mother was basically the personification off everything that was wrong with the world, but at least she was still alive. If I never saw her again, it would be by choice.

Choices are important.

I was happy that I had found out I was a witch, that I _wasn't_ crazy. I was special. But I couldn't even be a witch properly. I was always messing things up, and other people had to go around fixing the results.

Maybe this Jeremy person knew a witch who could teach me control. Teach me how to use my powers without hurting people.

Simon was sitting up front with that Nick guy, who was really hot. He looked about mid-to-late-twenties, with dark hair, and a movie-star smile. And he drove a really nice car. I was pretending to look at the scenery, but really, I was checking his reflection out in the window. He laughed at something Simon said, and the sound of it sent shivers down my spine.

Great. Another useless crush on an unattainable-guy. I had a better chance with _Simon_.

I started coding in my head, running through as many of the binaries as I could. I loved coding. It always calmed me down, mainly because it took so much of my attention. I recited all the codes, starting from the simplest to the hardest, getting lost in the combinations of ones and zeros. The scenery outside the car flew past, and Simon's voice, and Nick's laughter faded away. Then the world spun around me, becoming a blur. When it stopped, I blinked. The world had changed.

The there were threads spread out before me, in lines as far as my eye could see, connecting _everything_. The sky. The ground. The car I was sitting in, Simon, Nick- everything was connected.

_I_ was connected too. There was a line connecting me to Simon. He turned towards me, his mouth forming words, but no sounds came out. I blinked. Everything went back to normal. No scenery was flying past, we were parked. Simon and Nick were turned around, staring at me. There was a cell phone pressed up against Nick's ear, and he was talking in it. I hear what he was saying, but my brain couldn't seem to decipher the sounds. I turned to Simon, a familiar face in a world that was suddenly different. I could feel the panic starting to rise, and my breath was coming out in short gasps.

I shook my head and tried to concentrate on what Simon was saying.

"Tori!" A small part of me was completely elated at the fear in Simon's voice. I pushed it away, and focused on replying.

"What?" Great. I sounded pissed. I tried again, making an effort to swallow my fear. "I'm sorry. I must have… must have zoned out." I gave a weak smile, and Simon just rolled his eyes and shook his head.

So much for him worrying about me.

I muttered another apology under my breath, and looked out the window, crossing my arms.

"Are you ok? You had us really freaked out. We were trying to get your attention for-" Nick paused and glanced at the dashboard clock, "six minutes," Nick's eyes were full of shock and concern. I thought that was weird. I mean, the guy was a _werewolf_. He probably saw freaky things _all the time_. But I go into a little trance, and the dude panics enough to call someone about it. I mean, really, it could happen to anybody. And ok, so it was the third one this month, but whatever. How was counting? Not me.

"I'm fine. Sorry. I was staring at the yellow line for too long, I guess." I said to Nick, my voice blessedly strong. He looked dubious.

"Are you sure? I've never seen anything like that before. Your eyes were moving really fast, zipping all over the place. _And_ you didn't blink once. It was really creepy," he said. Great. Now the guy thought I was creepy. I couldn't win.

"If she says she's fine, she's fine. Trust me on this, you _always_ know what Tori is thinking. Even if you don't want to." He sent me an undecipherable look, and quickly looked away. I rolled my eyes, and gave Nick my sweetest smile.

"I'm fine. I'm just really tired. We haven't been getting much sleep lately," I said in my most apologetic voice.

"If you're sure. I would like for Jeremy to take a look at you when we get to the house, though. You look really pale. Gave us quite a scare,"

Simon's ears turned pink and his eyes remained glued to the front of the car. Simon was scared for me. _For me_. I wondered what had changed. When he had started giving a shit about me.

We drove in silence the rest of the way. Finally, we pulled into what looked like a road, but turned out to be a driveway. After what felt like forever, we pulled up in front of a large house. I immediately liked it. It was unlike any house I had seen before. Obviously, whoever had built it was rich, but it didn't reek of money.

The car turned off, and I slowly got out. Out of the corner of my eye, I could still see the lines. I blinked, and the world faded away into the background again, and all I could see were the lines. There were thousands of them running out of the house, and even more coming from the woods, all varying shades of colors. Some of the lines were thick and strong, some were so thin and faded I could barely see them. I reached out to touch one, but my finger went through it. Distantly, a part of me was aware that someone was calling my name.

I turned. I could sort of make out the shape of Simon. There were lines coming from him too. I focused on the clearest one. It was huge, as big around as my thumb, leading from him… to me. It was silver, and sparkling.

"It's beautiful.." a voice whispered. It took me a few seconds to realize the voice belonged to me, that I had spoken out loud.

"What's beautiful?" Simon's voice barely registered to me. I reached out to touch the line connecting us, and instead of my hand going through, it connected, and sent a shockwave through my arm hard enough to jolt me out of my trance.

I fell back, landing on my butt hard enough to make my teeth crash together. I blinked, and the world shifted back to normal, no strange, glittery lines everywhere to be seen. I looked up, and Simon was rushing over to me, concern etched on his face. But Nick was faster, and before I even had time to register it, he had me on my feet. His hands were around my waist, holding me steady.

"What the hell was that?" he demanded. "Are you ok? I knew you weren't ok." The look he gave Simon was pure poison, which I couldn't understand, because Simon had nothing to do with it. I pushed myself past them, and went up to the door. Before I could knock, it swung open, revealing Chloe's bright, smiling face.

I was happy to see her. I found myself returning her grin, and I looked past her to Derek, and the sight of him didn't make me lose my smile at all. To my surprise, I was happy to see both of them. To my even greater surprise, Derek returned my smile.

I looked down, and noticed that they were holding hands. Well, that explained the un-Derek-like behavior. I stole a glance at Simon, who by then had reached me, grumbling the whole time. He was staring at their hands like he had never seen them before. Chloe noticed us looking, and dropped Derek's hand, her face turning red. Then she stepped forward and made like she was going to hug me, but hesitated, unsure of whether we were the kind of friends that hugged or not. I made the decision for her, and gave her a quick squeeze.

She grabbed my arm, and drew me further into the house, steering us to a room where a very handsome, dark-haired man was sitting. The man looked up, introduced himself as Jeremy, and told us to make ourselves at home. Nick brushed past us to stand next to Jeremy, and then whispered something to him. I started inching my way out of the room, not wanting to answer any questions about my trances, when Jeremy called me back to him, in such a way that I knew he was used to having his orders followed.

He told the others they could catch up with me later, and after dismissing Nick, he gestured to the couch, and told me to make myself comfortable. We weren't going anywhere until I told him what was going on.

I knew there was no getting out of it, no distracting him or brushing him off. So I told him. I told him about the trances I had been having lately, how they used to just come when I coded in my head, but now they were coming more and more frequently, without any coding at all. He looked at me with clear eyes, his face never once betraying any kind of emotion. Occasionally, something would flicker in his eyes, but I had no way to identify it. The whole time I talked, he took notes, like one of the shrinks my mom had made me go see. But unlike those shrinks, he didn't make me feel crazy. He didn't make me feel like a little kid. He just listened patiently, occasionally nodding, or asking a mild question like, "When did that start to happen?" I talked to him for a half-hour, feeling relieved that I didn't have to keep this secret anymore.

He told me that he would contact a witch friend of his, see if she knew what was happening to me. He figured it might have had something to do with the genetic manipulations the good doctors of the Edison Group had done to me, but didn't want to give me a definitive answer.

"I'm not really a doctor, Tori. And all the medicine I do practice is almost always on werewolves. But thank you for telling me, and hopefully, we will have some way to get you some answers. You must be exhausted. Why don't you go find the room you're sharing with Chloe, and have a quick nap? We're going into town for dinner tonight, if you'd like to join us. If not, we can pick something up for you."

I reassured him that I would make it for dinner, that I just needed to wash up and rest first. So, he directed me to my room, and when I went in, Chloe was sitting on her bed, talking to thin air.

She looked up at me with concern, then with surprise. I felt a pressure around my arms and torso, like someone was hugging me.

"Please tell me that's Liz," I said. The squeezing got harder, then released all at once. Yup. It was Liz. She was the only person I knew who hugged like that, dead or alive. Chloe confirmed it a second later.

I hated the fact that she was dead. But I could never let it show that it upset me, because I knew how she hated people being upset. So I just smiled, and said, "Hi, Liz!" Then I flopped on the bed Chloe was sitting on. She suggested that I take a nap, and generously offered me the bed.

"Sure. Thanks. Can you wake me up in an hour?" She nodded, so I continued before she could leave the room. "So, tell me. What the hell is going on with you and Derek? Since when do you two hold hands?" I asked her with a grin.

She blushed and looked down at her feet, but the smile on her face was so big that I couldn't help but feel a little pang of… something. Not jealousy, per se, but envy, I guess. I wanted a boy to smile about. I wanted a boy to smile about me.

Well, even if I couldn't have a boyfriend, didn't mean I couldn't hear when my friends got one. So I told Chloe to spill everything, in two minutes or less.

She started telling me, blushing and grinning the whole time, and when she was done, she looked at my face, and I couldn't help but return her smile. I was actually happy for her. My mother would have been shocked to see me now, actually behaving like a normal teen-age girl.

I yawned, and Chloe immediately went all mother-hen on me, making me lay down, fluffing the pillow, drawing the blinds. I finally shoed her out of the room, and curled up on the bed. I was asleep before my head touched the pillow.


	7. Somewhat Damaged

Derek ushered me into the room we were sharing. He had rushed through the introductions, and insisted that I put my things away in our room. I sat down on the bed, and looked at the air-mattress that was placed on the floor. I wondered how much a futon would cost, if we could afford one.

"Simon, what's with you? You haven't said two words since we got here," Derek bristled with annoyance. A feeling of comfort and security rushed over me. As long as Derek was impatient and annoyed, then everything _must_ be ok. The world was as it should be, not upside-down like it had felt only a few minutes ago. When I as worried about Tori.

Me. Worried. About. Tori. Those words didn't even work in a sentence together, that's out wrong it was. But I couldn't get her expression out of my head. That vacant, almost _dead_ expression.

Something was really wrong with Tori, and for some reason, I _cared_. A lot. When did I start caring about what happened to Tori? It must have happened sometime between the safe house and here, that was for sure. Because yesterday morning (was it still yesterday morning that we had all woken up there? It seemed like so long ago) I still couldn't stand her.

But after traipsing all over Upstate New York with her, something happened. I wasn't sure what exactly, but things were different.

"Simon! You're freaking me out! What the hell happened?" Derek's annoyance was turning into panic. Good old Derek. Nothing sets him off faster than being ignored. I guess that's why he's so good at the silent treatment. He knows how much it sucks to be the recipient of it. So I did the Simon equivalent of changing the subject.

"I'm fine. Just tired. We've been on the road all day, and we didn't get much sleep last night. Or the night before that, really. Thanks for calling, by the way, and letting us know you and Chloe were still alive. We really appreciated it."

"I said I was sorry. I had a lot on my mind, and-"

"You were too busy making-out with your girlfriend to remember Little Brother," I said snidely.

"It's not like that, Simon!" Derek snapped. "I wasn't too busy making-out with Chloe, I was recovering from another partial Change! And trying to find out exactly what I am, because in case you have forgotten, Dad wasn't exactly an expert on the subject. I know he did his best, but really, I need more than he gave me." Derek sat down on the bed with a thump. He sighed, then shook his head. "I'm sorry. I should have called you when I first got up this morning. There is no excuse. It _won't_ happen again, and I _will_ make it up to you. Somehow."

I rolled my eyes, and punched him in the arm.

"It's cool, bro. No worries." I grinned at him, and raised my eyebrows. "You promised on the phone you'd tell me what happened with Chloe."

He sighed, then cocked his ear to the side, listening. After a few seconds, his eyebrows raised in surprise, then he smiled.

"What's Chloe saying?" I asked, wishing I had supersonic hearing to for the millionth time.

He shook his head, then turned back to me, still smiling.

"Come on, dude. The suspense is killing me," I pleaded, then threw a pillow at him. He just raised him arm and sent it ricocheting to the bed in one fluid motion.

"I told her how I feel," he said. I looked at him, really _looked_ for the first time in awhile. For the first time for as long as I could recall, my brother was happy. Not just making-the-best-of-things happy. He was _actually_ happy.

"I take it that she feels the same way," I said smugly.

"Yeah, she does," he replied.

We talked for a few more minutes after that, Derek's face positively glowing the whole time. Jeremy knocked on the door, and told us we had fifteen minutes before we all headed out for dinner. So, I hopped in the shower, got dressed, headed downstairs with time to spare.

After everyone filed out of the house, we all piled into this monster SUV that was parked in the garage. As the scenery flew past, I found myself thinking about Tori again. She was sitting in the middle seat with Chloe, and I was diagonal from her in the back row. She hadn't zoned out once since we started. She hadn't shut up either.

I ignored her, and concentrated on my comic. It was really coming along, and I wanted to add some pages about Derek and Chloe's relationship, because every good story needs some romance. That's what I told myself anyways. I was really happy that Derek had found someone. It didn't even bother me that they were already more serious that I had ever been with a girl. I figured that if anyone could make a relationship work, it would be those two. They weren't quitters, and that's what made them perfect for each other.

We got to the restaurant, and sat down. Jeremy kept the talk light, trying to find out about our different interests. His eyes light up when Chloe told him I was an artist. We talked about art until dinner arrived, then we talked about Chloe's art school after that. She wasn't sure she was going to go back there when things had calmed down, but she recommended that I check it out. Derek stayed quiet enough during the conversation that I figured something was up.

When I asked him about it after we were leaving the restaurant, he just mumbled something at me, then grabbed Chloe's hand. They sat together in the back of the car on the ride home. Tori sat up front with Jeremy, so I took the opportunity to catch up on some sleep. Something told me I was going to need it.


	8. The Frail

**Sorry it took me so long to update. I had horrible writer's block. I hope to have more out soon. Thanks to anyone who has read and reviewed. And thanks for adding me to your favorite author and/or story list. **

We got into a routine at Stonehaven very quickly. The days flew by, mainly because every day was so packed full of activity, there was no time to get bored at all. Mornings were spent learning to control our powers. Afternoons were free, and evenings were spent learning as much about the supernatural community as we could. The whole thing was fascinating.

Take half-demons, for example. There were many, many different kinds. Apparently, Elena's best friend (outside the Pack) was a childhood friend of Rae's half-brother. It was a small world, really. There was so much that I still didn't know, and even though Derek and Simon had a whole lifetime to know about it, they didn't know much more than me, either. So, I didn't feel completly ignorant all the time.

My lessons with Jaime were coming along nicely too. Practicing with her was easy, and she made it fun. After the first week, I was no longer afraid to sleep at night. Especially since I had released Liam's spirit.

Something had happened with Tori and Simon. They had stopped bickering so much, which worried Derek. He and I were out in the woods, having a stolen moment from all the activity of the house. He was carrying a blanket and a cooler filled with food.

"Still, it's weird. He smiled at her today. Actually smiled. I asked him if his blood sugar was low, and he said it was fine."

"Derek."

"Yeah. I know. It's none of my business. I should stop worrying. It's like we're reading from a script sometimes, you know." He said teasingly, then opened his mouth to say more, but I cut him off with a kiss. Five minutes later, I was satisfied that Simon was the last thing on Derek's mind. It was definitely worth getting a few leaves in my hair.

We walked through the woods to a meadow we had discovered on our second full day at Stonehaven. Since it was early spring, it was still chilly enough for us to need jackets. Derek spread out the blanket and we sat down.  
"Are you hungry?" He asked me. He kept stealing longing glances at the cooler, so I took pity on him.

"Starving," I replied. We ate in silence for the next few minutes. When we got to dessert, he asked me about that morning's necromancy lesson. We spent the next twenty minutes going over my successful ghost summoning. Jaime considered it a breakthrough because I hadn't been able to summon even Liz without raising any of the dead animals within a half-mile radius. Apparently, I was the most powerful necromancer she had ever heard of. Usually, it took a lot of concentration to raise anything as a zombie. I had raised people in my sleep. Surprisingly, I had mastered that the first night. My determination to not put some poor soul through that had been the catalyst, I think.

Living with werewolves meant that I never had to find my own corpses to raise in my lessons. No, that does not mean they went around killing things for me all the time. They were just really good at finding dead animals. Besides, any deer or rabbit they killed, they ate. They had no use for a decomposing rabbit, but they were glad to be of help to me.

I knew a girl in school who celebrated every week she was with this one guy. She got flowers for their One-Week-Anniversary. I got a dead badger. But he was really sweet about giving it to me.

I tried to picture what my old friends at school would have said, but I kept drawing a blank. It seemed now more than ever that my old life was a dream that had happened to someone else. And even though I had lost so much, I was still happier than I had ever been in my entire life.

Derek finished eating, then cleaned up the food, putting everything back in the cooler. He took of his sweatshirt, then rolled it up into a bundle, so he could use it as a pillow. He pulled me down beside him, with me resting my head on his chest.

Even though Jeremy totally didn't care, Derek and I had an unspoken agreement to keep our make-out sessions out of the house, mainly because Kate seemed to have radar. She always seemed to find us, just when things were getting interesting. And if it wasn't her, it was someone else. One time we were in Derek and Simon's room, and Simon had walked in on us. That memory still made me cringe with embarrassment every time I thought about it. I didn't have a shirt on, and Derek had been in the process of removing my bra when Simon felt the need to get his art supplies. I don't think he did it on purpose, but Derek still didn't care. Not only was it hard to have privacy with Simon around, but Derek was also worried about things going too far, too soon. At least if we were outside, we'd probably be too cold to let our hormones completely take us over. That was the theory, anyway.

Tonight, we were having a bonfire. The twins were really excited about it, mainly because marshmallows were going to be involved.

Derek was surprisingly good with them. He didn't treat them as if they were babies, just small adults, and they really liked that. Logan in particular followed Derek around whenever he could. Derek would act all annoyed by it, but I would catch him smiling at Logan when he thought no one was looking.

So, we stayed in the meadow for a couple hours, just enjoying the day and each other. Occasionally we would talk, but mostly we were exploring our limits. I was getting really good at not blushing every time Derek put his hand under my bra. He said it was cute, but the last thing a girl wants when her boyfriend is feeling her up is to be seen as "cute" so I was working on it.

We were kissing, and this time we had taken my bra off before my shirt so I wouldn't freeze. So far, that's as far as we had gone, just above-the-waist-action. I wanted to take things further, but he would always stop me as soon as my hand drifted to his waistband. That afternoon was no different, but instead of just going on like I usually did, I stopped kissing him and pushed him off me.

"What's wrong? Did I hurt you?" he asked me hurriedly.

"No, of course you didn't hurt me. How could you have hurt me? We never do anything that would hurt me," I responded angrily. Sexual frustration was not something that had ever happened to me, but I now understood what my friends from school had been talking about all these years.

"Chloe, you know we can't-"

"I wasn't trying to have sex with you, Derek. You know I'm not ready for that. But I am ready for other things, and you aren't even giving me a chance to do them. You know, like a normal teenage, hormone-driven couple. There should be more to it than you just feeling me up all the time."

He was very quiet for a few minutes, and wouldn't look at me. Finally, after what seemed like forever, he turned back to me. I started preparing my list of arguments when he completely floored me by simply stating,

"Ok."

"Did you just say, 'Ok'?" I asked him after my head stopped reeling from the shock.

"Yeah. Ok. You're right. I'm being unfair to you. You deserve to have as normal of a relationship as I can give you, and I have to learn control anyways, so… Ok."

I opened and closed my mouth a few times, but couldn't think of anything else to add, so I just smiled at him instead.

"Good. So where were we?" I asked him.

"I think we were right about… here" he said, then he kissed me. We kissed for a few minutes, and his hands went back under my shirt, and my hands drifted down. And of course, as soon as I started making some actual progress-

"DEREK! CHLOE!" Simon's voice called from the house. Unfortunately, we were close enough so that we couldn't pretend not to hear him. One of Jeremy's rules was staying in hearing distance at all times.

"Damn," Derek muttered. "Perfect timing. I think I'm going to kill him."

"Be nice. I'm sure it's something important."

He rolled off of me, then stood up in one fluid motion. He pulled me up next to him, then tilted his head towards the house. Then he handed me back my bra, then gave me a quick kiss and started jogging back towards the house. I could hear the sounds of someone approaching through the trees, and judging by the accompanying swear words, it was Simon. Derek intercepted him before he could see me, so I turned around and performed the time-honored Putting Your Bra On While Still Wearing Your Shirt ritual that all self-conscious girls learn how to do the first week of gym class.

"I'm decent," I whispered, so I knew that only Derek would hear it. He and Simon had been facing the house, and he must have said something to Simon because Simon then slapped him on the back and gave him a high-five. Or tried to. Derek's response was a glare that was so chilly I could practically hear the air-particles freezing.

"Oh, come on, Derek! Don't be like that! You know I didn't mean anything by it! Oh, hey Chloe."

"Hi, Simon. What's up?"

"Tori wants to go shopping, and she insisted that you go with her. She wouldn't stop bugging me until I went out here to find you two."

"Why didn't she come here herself?" I asked, even though I was pretty sure I knew the answer.

It was Simon's turn to blush. His stammered response was enough to put even my stuttering to shame, so I took pity on him and quickly told him it didn't matter. We walked to the house.

Tori was standing in the kitchen, talking to Jeremy. Apparently, Clay and Elena were out with the twins, so Jeremy offered to take us in to town. I ran upstairs to grab my wallet, and we filed out of the house and into the newly purchased mini-van Elena had bought the week before.

I was going to sit next to Derek, but Tori asked him if he could sit up front with Jeremy. He grunted his agreement, and I plopped down next to Tori and buckled up.

"What's going on Tori?" I hissed. I glanced up at Derek, but he had his headphones on, so I was pretty sure he wasn't listening. I wasn't worried about Jeremy because he never paid attention to what we were going on about. He made a point of telling us that. He had stated in the past that in his experience, a grown man has much better things to worry about than the going-ons of teenage girls.

"I need to pick something up at the pharmacy and I need moral support." Tori responded. Her voice wobbled and I glanced at her sharply. Her face was pale and there were dark circles under her eyes. I couldn't understand how I hadn't noticed it before.

"What's wrong?" I asked her as quietly as I could.

She looked at Simon, who was drawing in his sketch pad.

"I'll tell you after we get into town. Derek is just going to have to do without you for an hour or so."

The rest of the trip was spent in silence. After we arrived, I scrambled out of the van, and dragged Derek away from the van, and explained what was going on with Tori. He wasn't too thrilled about separating. We were whispering frantically for a few minutes when Tori stepped in.

"Derek, as much as I hate to have to say this, but, seriously? Are you really going to be That Guy?"

"What guy?" His brow furrowed in confusion, a rare enough

"You know That Guy, the one who can't let his girlfriend out of his sight for two minutes? The one that won't let her have a life of her own? Trust me Derek, you don't want to be that guy."

He rolled his eyes, gave me a quick kiss then stomped off after Simon.

"Ok, so what do you need moral support for?" I asked Tori.

"You'll see," was all she would say. We headed into the drug store. She glanced around the store then headed purposely down an aisle. She told me to go stand by the cash registers while she got what she needed. I still didn't understand what I had to be there for, but when she came up to the registers, she went to the one that was furthest from me. After she was done being rung up, she hurried over to me.

"Come on, we have to go to the bathroom. I really need to pee," she demanded. Her tone of voice betrayed her, however. She was even more pale than before, and she was shaking slightly.

"Tori! Are you sick? What's wrong?" I asked her worriedly.

"I'm not sick," she whispered. Then she grabbed my arm and dragged me into the bathroom. She disappeared into one of the stalls and I heard some rustling. She started peeing, and then a minute later she emerged from the stall holding something in her hand.

"Oh. My. God." I said when I realized what it was. I glanced down at the little display screen. It was hard to read it at first, mainly because Tori couldn't stop shaking. Tears were streaming down her face and I had to take the damn thing from her to read it properly. It was one of those digital-display pregnancy test that give you an accurate reading in less than three minutes. The results were already there, clear as a bell.

Pregnant.


	9. The Wretched

Pregnant.

I stared at that dreaded plastic stick, willing the screen to change. It was so strange that something so small could have the power to make my heart pound in my chest. That two words weren't just changing Tori's life forever, but possibly my own. That's how I felt anyways.

"Maybe we should get another one. Or two. Can't they be wrong sometimes?" I asked after two whole minutes of silence.

"Really? Does that happen often?" Tori asked me hopefully.

"All the time," I lied. I had no idea. My friends that were having sex were all on birth control. The closest I had even been to a pregnancy scare was when I was watching a movie. But still, it didn't hurt to be sure. I kept all those thoughts to myself, and reassured Tori that I would be right back.

I ran to the pregnancy test aisle and grabbed three more pregnancy tests. Two of a different brand and the same test Tori had just taken.

I wasn't too concerned about money. Jeremy was loaded, and even though we assured him that we were going to pay him back when it was all over, he would wave our concerns away after shelling out a hundred dollars to us each. And that was just to go to McDonald's one night. I never spent much of it, and dutifully wrote down how much I owed him.

I paid for the tests, then hurried back to Tori. She just took them all and went back into the stall. She handed me all the tests after she was done and we lined them up on the counter and turned them upside down. After a minute was up, we looked at them.

Pregnant

Pregnant

Pregnant

Tori's face was ashen. Then she burst into tears.

"Oh, God, Chloe! What am I going to do? I can't have a baby! I mean, even if we weren't on the run, I'm only sixteen years old!"

I tried to think of what I would need to hear if I had been in her shoes.

"Tori, no matter what you choose, I'm here for you. You aren't alone in this, I promise."

She cried for a couple more minutes, and I joined her, because it needed to be done. Someone had to cry for Tori.

"Can you call Liz for me?" Tori's voice wavered.

"I can try," I replied. I closed my eyes and concentrated on Liz's face, on _pulling_ her towards me. A few seconds later I was rewarded with Liz's voice worriedly exclaiming, "What's going on? What's wrong with Tori?" She looked around, and saw the pregnancy tests. All four of them. Pregnant.

"Shit." She sat down on the floor next to me.

"Tori, Liz is here."

"Oh, God, Liz! What am I going to do? I can't have a baby!" She started having hysterics then, and since I couldn't blame her, I left her to them. I told Liz to keep an eye on her, then I went out to the pharmacy and bought one of those markers you use to write on glass. I came back in the bathroom, and Liz was rubbing Tori's back in circles, which we knew from past experiments, Tori could feel. She was whispering, "It's ok. It's ok. Everything is going to be ok," and other nonsense like that. She looked at me and I knew she was lying through her teeth, but since Tori couldn't hear her anyways, I wasn't about to say anything.

I handed Liz the marker and explained to her what it was for. I figured that the person Tori needed to communicate with more than anything right now was her "real" best friend, not me. The replacement.

I told them I would be back in a few, I just wanted to check in with the guys so they didn't worry. Tori barely heard me, she was too busy reading Liz's message on the mirror.

I ran out of the drug store, and pulled out the disposable phone Jeremy had us replace every other day. I called Derek.

"Hey, where are you guys? I was starting to worry. I thought you were just going to the drug store?"

"Technically, we're still in the drug store. Well, Tori and Liz are. I'm out in front, looking for you."

"I'm down the street, look to your left."

I did. He was only a few stores down, easy to spot in the almost-deserted street. Simon was behind him, carrying some bags from the office-supply store, which was the only place Simon could get decent colored pencils in town.

As he approached, I could see that Derek was smiling, a sight that was getting less and less rare as the days passed. Something must have shown on my face however, because his smile evaporated and the previously ever-present frown appeared.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing came out. I didn't know if I should tell him, because really, it wasn't his business. So I settled for:

"It's Tori."

"Is she ok? Is she hurt? She's been acting really weird lately ever since-" Simon abruptly broke off.

"She's not hurt. But, um, Derek, I think I need to talk to Simon for a sec, ok?" I added pointedly, "_Alone_." Before either one of them could respond, I dragged Simon away into a video arcade. It was sufficiently loud enough that even Derek wouldn't be able to overhear us.

"Simon, listen. I need to know something right now, and I want a straight answer. Ok?"

"Sure, Chloe. Whatever you need."

"Did you have sex with Tori?"

"What? Is she saying that I did? That is just like her! That witch," Simon sputtered. I took notice that not once did he deny it. That's one mystery solved.

"Simon. Answer the question, or I'm going to drag her in her and we'll see what you have to say then."

He ducked his head, and had the grace to look embarrassed.

"Well, once. But I don't see what this is about-" he stopped talking when the horror dawned on him. The blood ran from his face, and he sat down quickly.

"Shit."

"Yeah, that's was Liz said. You need to talk to Tori. But first, I have to get her out of that bathroom before they start charging her rent."

We left the arcade, and he went into the drug store to find Tori. I walked over to Derek, and wrapped my arms around him.

"So, are you going to tell me what the big secret is, or do I have to guess?" He asked, keeping his tone light.

"Tori's pregnant. I'm pretty sure that Simon is the father." I mumbled into his chest.

"What?"


	10. Underneath It All

**I am not Kelley Armstrong. I think I might have mentioned that before, but just to be clear, THESE ARE NOT **_**MY **_**CHARACTERS. I'm just playing with them for awhile. Sorry my updates have been so erratic. Read and review, but remember constructive criticism only! No flames please!!! Thanks for all the great reviews! It means a lot to me that people still like my work. I really appreciate that. It helps when I get stuck. Enjoy!**

"There you two are! I've been looking all over for you kids! Chloe, do you know where Tori is? She's not answering her phone," Jeremy's voice said from behind me. I turned around, and Jeremy was standing with a worried expression and two shopping bags. Derek and I exchanged glances, which quickly made Jeremy's worried expression turn suspicious.

"What happened?" he asked quietly.

When I hesitated, Derek quickly jumped in.

"Can we tell you later? Right now, we just need to get Tori and Simon, and go home. There's some… things we need to talk about."

Jeremy didn't hesitate, just nodded. He told me to get Tori.

"Something's come up." Before we could ask him what he continued, "Get Tori. We'll talk on the way home."

I turned to walk into the pharmacy, but before I could, Tori flew out of the doors, and Simon was right behind her.

"We should be talking about this, Tori. Don't shut me out!" He called after her as she rushed by us to the van. She didn't even pause when she reached it, just opened the passenger door, and hopped in. The rest of us follow suit, and then we were on our way back to Stonehaven. Tori spent the ride glaring out the window, and glaring at me. Derek glared at Simon. Simon, for his part, wasn't glaring at anybody, but he did send several concerned looks in Tori's direction.

When we got to the house, there was a mad-scramble when the three of us in the back worked at cross-purposes trying to get out of the van. Finally, I stumbled out into the driveway and hurried to the porch. As I walked in the house, Tori grabbed my arm and said, "You. Me. Our room. NOW."

As soon as I stepped in the door, she lit into me.

"How could you tell Simon! And what right did you have to tell him it was his? I can't believe you did that, Chloe!"

It was the first time in weeks that Tori had even so much as raised her voice to me, so I was a little taken aback. I wondered if we were going to get visited by the "Old Tori" that had been such a joy to hang around.

"I-I-I-" I started, but Tori cut me off.

"Wh-wh-what? Spit it out, Chloe!"

My eyes filled with tears before I could help it, and I could feel the blush spreading to my face. I brushed the tears away, and decided I wasn't going to play the Pathetic Crying Girl in _this_ scene.

"I didn't actually tell Simon, he guessed. All I did was ask him if you two had hooked up. I'm sorry, and you're right. I probably shouldn't have done that. But I thought we were past you vying for the Bitch Of The Year Award, Tori."

She said nothing for a moment, then burst into tears.

"I'm sorry, Chloe. It's just… it's just…. This is impossible! I can't be pregnant," she sobbed. I walked over and gently lead her to her bed, and we both sat down.

"I know it must be hard to accept, but you do have options, Tori."

"That's not it. It's just… It can't be Simon's. It's literally not possible. We only… did it last week. I looked it up on the internet this morning before we left. There's no way it could should up in a test in the time frame, Chloe."

"Well, if it's not Simon's, then whose it it?" I asked hesitantly. I wasn't sure I wanted to hear the answer.

"I don't know." She paused. "I know how that sounds, but Chloe, you have to believe me. Simon's the only guy I've been with since months before Lyle House. And I'm on birth control. My mother was always very strict about that. She would rather shove pills down my throat than have to deal with the embarrassment of her teenage daughter getting pregnant," She said bitterly. She had stopped crying, and reached over to grab the box of tissues on the nightstand we shared.

Her eyes were full of sincerity and behind that, fear. It didn't matter what the truth was, she honestly believed what she was saying. What could I do? Call her a liar?

"I believe you."

"You do?"

"Yeah, I do. And we'll figure this out. We'll find out what's going on. But first, we need to talk to Jeremy. He said that something came up earlier, and I never got the chance to tell you. But Tori, don't forget, you aren't in this alone. I am here for you."

"I know that, Chloe. Thanks. And I am really sorry about earlier."

"I'm sorry I talked to Simon before checking with you first," I responded.

She wrinkled her nose, then said, "We don't have to go all mushy and hug now, do we?"

I laughed and smacked her with the pillow. She was about to reciprocate, but then a knock on the door interrupted us.

"Come in!" She called out before I could ask who it was.

Derek popped his head in and glared.

"Jeremy says we have to have a meeting downstairs. Now," with that, he turned and left. Great. So now he was mad at me. It seemed sometimes like I couldn't go one minute without some kind of personal crisis.

"Come on, let's go. We might as well get this over with," Tori stated as she walked out the door. I followed her and we went down to the living room. Clay, Elena, Jeremy and Simon were already there. Tori and I sat down and as soon as Derek walked in the room, Jeremy started talking.

"I spoke to the rest of the council today-" Jeremy started, but Simon interrupted.

"What council?"

For the next few minutes, we were told about the Supernatural Council. Oddly enough, it was a council of supernaturals. There were representative from all the major "races": necros, werewolves, vampires, witches, sorcerers and half-demons. They got together to discuss problems facing the supernatural community and sometimes even policed it. Or outsourced people to police it. Jeremy, Elena and Jaime were all on the council, which made it easy for us to get the rest of the council on our side.

"They want all four of you to tell your story tomorrow at our meeting. Would that be ok? That way, we can get the ball rolling on bringing down the Edison Group. We've dealt with people like them before, so believe it or not, we are actually prepared to handle it." Jeremy stated.

We all agreed whole-heartedly, and Jeremy stood up to dismiss us when Derek spoke up.

"Tori has something she needs to tell you."

Tori glared at him, but I gave her a smile of encouragement and squeezed her hand. "You need to tell them, Tori. They can help figure out what's happening," I said, not bothering to whisper with four werewolves in the room.

"I'm knocked up with some freak of a baby."

To my complete and utter surprise, the news didn't go over so very well. I can't imagine why.


End file.
